System and method for creating, playing and modifying slide shows

ABSTRACT

A system and method for creating, playing and modifying slide shows utilizes a graphic play area for sequentially displaying slides of slide shows. The graphic play area is configured to automatically add one or more objects placed in the graphic play area when a slide is displayed in the graphic play area such that the graphic objects are appended to that slide. Thus, the system and method allows a user to easily modify a slide show by simply placing one or more graphic objects, such as text, onto a slide currently being displayed in the graphic play area.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/635,746, filed Aug. 5, 2003 now abandoned forwhich priority is claimed. The entirety of the prior application isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to computer programs, and moreparticularly to a system and method for creating, playing and modifyingslide shows.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Custom electronic slide shows can be created using one of numerouscomputer programs that are currently available in the consumermarketplace. One type of computer programs of interest that can be usedto create slide shows is a photo processing computer program. Using atypical photo processing computer program, a user can create slide showsof digital photos or images by selecting computer image files. Theselected image files can then be sequentially displayed by the computerprogram as a slide show of images.

After the slide show is created, the slide show can be modified by theuser. However, modification of the slide show typically involveschanging one or more digital images of the slide show by imageprocessing techniques. As an example, if the user desires to insert textinto one of the images of the slide show, the desired text must be madepart of that image by embedding the text into the image and then savingthe image with the embedded text. Thus, the process for modifying aslide show using a photo processing computer program can be a tedioustask.

Another type of computer programs of interest that can be used to createslide shows is a presentation computer program. Using a typicalpresentation computer program in an editing mode, pages of an electronicdocument or presentation can be created by a user. The pages of thepresentations can be used as slides for a slide show. After the pages ofthe electronic presentation is created, these pages can then besequentially displayed on the computer screen or a projection screen inthe slide show mode of the presentation computer program. Unlike thetypical photo processing computer program, the slide show can bemodified without having to perform complex image processing techniques.Using the typical presentation computer program, a slide show can bemodified by changing one or more pages of the presentation in theediting mode of the program. However, in the slide show mode, thedisplayed slides or pages of the electronic presentation cannot bemodified. Thus, the user needs to get out of the slide show mode andinto the editing mode to change any page of the presentation. Thus, theuser may need to switch between the editing and slide show modes tomodify one or more pages of the presentation and view the effects of themodification.

In view of these disadvantages, there is a need for a system and methodfor modifying a slide show in a simple manner without having to switchbetween different modes of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and method for creating, playing and modifying slide showsutilizes a graphic play area for sequentially displaying slides of slideshows. The graphic play area is configured to automatically add one ormore objects placed in the graphic play area when a slide is displayedin the graphic play area such that the graphic objects are appended tothat slide. Thus, the system and method allows a user to easily modify aslide show by simply placing one or more graphic objects, such as text,onto a slide currently being displayed in the graphic play area.

A system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes aplay area displayed in a display device and a media manager module. Theplay area is used to sequentially display slides of a sequential media.The play area has an agglomerative property such that a graphic objectplaced in the play area when a particular slide is displayed in the playarea is automatically added to the play area and appended to theparticular slide. The media manager module is configured to sequentiallyprovide the slides to the play area to play the sequential media. Themedia manager module is further configured to provide the particularslide with the graphic object when the graphic object has been appendedto the particular slide.

A method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includesdisplaying a particular slide of a sequential media in a play area of adisplay device. The play area is used to sequentially display the slidesof the sequential media. The play area has an agglomerative property forgraphic objects placed in the play area. The method also includesplacing a graphic object in the play area when the particular slide isdisplayed in the play area. The method further includes automaticallyadding the graphic object to the play area such that the graphic objectis appended to the particular slide for subsequent sequential display ofthe slides in the play area, including the particular slide with thegraphic object.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts the calling forth of an arrow logic using a color from aninkwell, an arrow switch and the action of drawing onscreen.

FIG. 2 depicts the creation of a slide show with the drawing of an arrowonscreen.

FIG. 3 shows one result from the drawing of the blue arrow 3 in FIG. 2,namely, the creation of a Slide Show VDACC.

FIG. 4 depicts a method of playing a slide show.

FIG. 5 depicts changing the onscreen time for an image in a slide showby typing a new number into its duration editor.

FIG. 6 depicts using a fader to alter the onscreen time for one or moreimages in a slide show.

FIG. 7 illustrates changing the order of the images in a slide show bydragging an image from one location to another within the Slide ShowVDACC object.

FIG. 8 a depicts inserting an image into a slide show by the drawing ofan arrow.

FIG. 8 b shows the newly created list of images in the Slide Showresulting from the insert made in FIG. 8 a.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a Play Rectangle (PR).

FIG. 10 depicts playing slide show images in a Play Rectangle (PR).

FIG. 11 a depicts resizing a Play Rectangle (PR) and the image playingwithin it.

FIG. 11 b depicts moving a Play Rectangle (PR) and the image playingwithin it.

FIG. 11 c is a description of an image being force fit to a PR andthereby skewed in the process.

FIG. 12 depicts the general use of “Fit Image to PR.”

FIG. 13 show selecting “Fit PR to Image” and its affect on an imageplaying in a Play Rectangle (PR).

FIG. 14 shows the default alignment of images' upper left corner to theupper left corner of a PR as they are played back within a PR in a slideshow.

FIG. 15 shows the alignment of images' center point to the center pointof a PR as they are played back within a PR in a slide show.

FIG. 16 refers to the entry Square %” and its use with a PR in a slideshow.

FIG. 17 illustrates how the definition of a square is calculated fromthe entry “% of landscape width.”

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for playing a slide show.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart for showing a slide in a Play Rectangle (PR).

FIG. 20 is a flow chart for hiding a slide in a slide show.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart for using a Play Rectangle.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart for changing a Play Rectangle geometry.

FIG. 23 shows a Play Rectangle in accordance with another embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 24 a illustrates typing of text onto a picture of a slide displayedin the Play Rectangle of FIG. 23 to add the text to the slide.

FIG. 24 b illustrates dragging of text onto a picture of a slidedisplayed in the Play Rectangle of FIG. 23 to add the text to the slide.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart for handling collisions between objects inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a computer system for creating, playingand modifying slides shows in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 27 is a flow diagram of a method for modifying a slide show inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A system and method for creating, playing and modifying slide shows inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention permits a user to createsequential media (i.e., slide shows) without being required to useframes and the placement of slides as utilized by presentation computerprograms common in the art. Instead of selecting commands from pull downmenus or the like, the system and method supports the creation ofsequential media by graphical means, which does not utilize pull downmenus, task bars or the like. In addition, the system and method permitsthe user to modify slide shows by simply placing graphic object, such astext, onto a slide currently being displayed.

The system and method is described below with respect to a computeroperating environment referred to herein as a “Blackspace” environment.The word “Blackspace” is a trademark of the NBOR Corporation. TheBlackspace environment presents one universal drawing surface that isshared by all graphic objects within the environment. The Blackspaceenvironment is analogous to a giant drawing “canvas” on which allgraphic objects generated in the environment exist and can be applied.Each of these graphic objects can have a user-created relationship toany or all the other objects. There are no barriers between any of theobjects that are created for or exist on this canvas. However, theinvention is not limited to the Blackspace environment and can beimplemented in any computer operating environment.

As used herein, the term “objects” include recognized graphic objects(e.g., stars, squares, circles, arrows, etc.), free drawn objects(sketches, drawings, lines, etc.), pictures in various file format(.png, .jpg, .bmp, .gif, etc.), graphic control devices (switches,faders, knobs, joysticks, etc.), videos in various file format (.mpg,.avi, .mov, etc.), text, and other graphic objects that are displayed ona display device. In addition, the term “image” may be interchangeablyused herein with the term “slide”. Thus, an image or slide contents of aslide show may include one or more graphic items, such as “objects”defined above.

To create a slide show using the system and method in accordance withthe invention, a user selects a color from a graphic inkwell and thendraws a special arrow (e.g., a blue arrow) which has an arrow logic of“sequential ordering” assigned to it. This arrow logic is recalled byselecting a color that corresponds to that arrow logic. For moreinformation regarding arrow logics, see pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/880,397. As described in more detail below, when the specialarrow is drawn such that the arrow intersects multiple computer files(e.g., picture or image files), a slide show of items represented bythose selected files can be crated. The order of the items in the slideshow is determined by the order in which the file names were intersectedby the special arrow. Thus, one of the key benefits of the system andmethod is that it permits a user to draw a single arrow to selectmultiple items (e.g., image files) in a particular order to create aslide show of slides represented by the selected items in thatparticular order.

The process for drawing a special arrow for creating a slide show inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention is described withreference to FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a user selects a color 1 in agraphic inkwell 2 on the global drawing surface of the Blackspaceenvironment displayed on a display, such as a computer monitor. An arrowswitch 4 is then turned on and an arrow 3 is drawn that calls forth aspecific arrow logic 5, which in this case is the arrow logic“sequential ordering”. One way to draw the arrow 3 is to left-click onthe global drawing surface and drag the cursor to create the arrow onthe surface. The default color for the arrow logic “sequential ordering”is the color blue. However, this color setting is a user modifiableparameter. In other words, the color of the arrow for the “sequentialordering” arrow logic can be changed to another color by the user. Thiscan be done according to the approaches described in the pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/880,397.

The special arrow for creating a slide show can be drawn such that thearrow intersects computer files, such as picture files, in a particularorder so that the slide show will include the items represented by theintersected files in that particular order, as illustrated in FIG. 2. InFIG. 2, a blue arrow 3 is drawn to intersect various picture files in apicture file list 6, which may be displayed in a picture file a [Virtualor Visual] Display and Control Canvas (VDACC) object 7. The term “VDACC”is a trademark of NBOR Corporation. A VDACC object includes a workspacesurface or canvas that may be larger than the visible or viewable areaof the VDACC object. Thus, a VDACC object allows a user to scroll thevisible area to view graphic objects or contents in the VDACC objectthat were hidden from the visible area. However, the objects that appearto be in the VDACC object exist on the global Blackspace canvas. Formore information about VDACC objects, see pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/671,953, entitled “Intuitive Graphic UserInterface with Universal Tools”, filed Sep. 26, 2003, which isincorporated by reference herein.

The picture files are represented by text objects in this list 6. Eachtext object that the shaft of the arrow 3 intersects will be added tothe source list 8 of the arrow. Any object intersected by the head (tip)of the arrow 3 is added to the target list 9 of the arrow. In thisillustration, no object is intersected by the head of the arrow 3 andthe target list 9 is empty. The shaft of the arrow 3 is a line that mustintersect some part of one or more characters belonging to a text objectin the list 6 in order for that text object to be selected by thedrawing of the arrow 3. In FIG. 2 non-contiguous text objects in thelist 6 have been selected by the drawing of the arrow 3. A user canliterally draw that line of the arrow 3 in any direction to intersectany one or more text objects in the list 6 and this will result in theselection of all items that have had any part of one or more of theircharacters intersected by the arrow.

The selected text objects appear in the source list 8 of the arrow 3. Inreality, the selected objects are listed according to their IDs, nottheir text object name. For the sake of illustration, each of theselected objects is shown with both the text object name and thecorresponding ID in the source list 8 of the arrow 3. The blue arrow 3is drawn such that the tip of the arrow points to the global drawingsurface of the Blackspace environment. In this case, the target list ofthe arrow 3 will be empty, indicating that a new slide show is to becreated rather than updating an existing one. After drawing the bluearrow 3 and upon a mouse up-click, the head 10 of the arrow 3 turnswhite, which indicates that the arrow has been properly drawn.

As shown in FIG. 3, after the arrow 3 is drawn, the arrow logicassociated with that arrow can be activated to create a Slide Show VDACCobject 11 that includes the pictures of the selected picture files. Thearrow logic associated with the arrow 3 may be activated by left mouseclicking on the white arrowhead 10 of the arrow 3 or by some equivalentmeans. When the arrow logic is activated, the blue arrow 3 disappearsalong with its white arrowhead 10 and the Slide Show VDACC object 11appears on the global drawing surface of the Blackspace environment.Inside the Slide Show VDACC object 11 are a number of smaller VDACCobjects that have one image inside of each of them. Each of these imagesis presented in their own small VDACC object, as illustrated by theVDACC object 14, in the order that the corresponding picture files wereintersected by the blue arrow 3, as shown in FIG. 2. These slide showimages and the small VDACC objects that contain the images are sometimesused herein interchangeably. Above each picture is a duration editor,such as the duration editor 13 for the second picture from the left,which is shown in seconds—“5.000”. A feature of the duration editor isalso shown in FIG. 3. This feature is that for the slide (or thepicture) that is currently playing, its duration editor turns green, asillustrated by the duration editor 12. Also shown in FIG. 3 is a playcursor 15, which appears at the far left edge of the first image in thefirst small VDACC object 14 in the Slide Show VDACC object 11.

Referring now to FIG. 4, to play a slide show in the Slide Show VDACCobject 11 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, a DM Playswitch 16 is turned on. As described in more detail below, in anembodiment of the invention, the playing of a slide show involvesplaying a Dyomation session, which is controlled by a Dyomation managerof the Blackspace program.

When the DM play switch 16 is activated, the green play cursor 15 startsto move through the first image (the far left image) in the Slide ShowVDACC object 11 from the left of the first slide show image toward thesubsequent slide show images in the Slide Show VDACC object. The lengthof time that it takes for the play cursor 15 to move through each imageor slide equals the length set by each slide's duration editor. In theexample of FIG. 3, each image is set to a duration of 5.000 seconds.

The Slide Show VDACC object 11 is not generally used for playing back aslide show, because the images are too small. The value of the SlideShow VDACC object 11 is as an overview and for editing the slide show.The following three types of edits will be discussed.

1. Changing the onscreen time of one or more slide show images.

2. Changing the order of one or more slide show images.

3. Inserting one or more images into a slide show.

1. Changing the Onscreen Time of One or More Slide Show Images.

There are many ways to change the onscreen time of one or more slideshow images. One of these ways is illustrated in FIG. 5 with respect tothe slide show image of the small VDACC object 14 (the fourth slide showimage from the left) in the Slide Show VDACC object 11. The durationeditor 18 for this slide can be changed by first turning on a textswitch 17 and placing a text cursor into the duration editor by a leftmouse click or some other suitable input. The text switch 17 allowstext, which includes numbers, to be entered in the Blackspaceenvironment. The duration editor 18 can then be changed by deletingand/or typing in one or more numbers. In the example of FIG. 5, theduration editor has been changed from 5.000 seconds to 2.000 seconds.This means that when this slide show image is played in the slide show,the image will remain onscreen for only 2 seconds, not 5 seconds.

Another way to change the onscreen time of images in a slide show isshown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, a RDraw switch 22 has been turned on toactivate the Recognize Draw Mode. In this mode, certain drawings arerecognized by the Blackspace program. As an example, a straighthorizontal line with a C-shaped line drawn along the line will berecognized as a fader. Using this feature, a fader 19 is created and ared arrow 20 with a “control” arrow logic assigned to the arrow is drawnto intersect the fader and point to the Slide Show VDACC object 11. Thiscontrol arrow logic can be stated by the following sentence: “theobject(s) that the arrow is drawn from controls the object(s) that thearrow points to.” After drawing the arrow 20 as shown in FIG. 6, thehead of the arrow turns white. Clicking on the white arrowheadestablishes the fader 19 as a duration control for all of the images inthe Slide Show VDACC object 11 at one time.

If the fader 19 is then moved to the right, the duration values for allof the images in the Slide Show VDACC object 111 are increased. If thefader 19 is moved to the left, these duration values are decreased.

Alternatively, if the red arrow 20 is drawn to intersect the fader 19and only one image in the Slide Show VDACC object 11, then this faderwill control the duration time for that image and no others. Theoperation of the fader 19 is the same as described above.

There are various ways to ensure that a drawn fader is programmed to bea duration control. One way is that the Blackspace program has a defaultsetting determining that any fader intersected by a red arrow, where thearrow points to a Slide Show VDACC object or to any image in a SlideShow VDACC object, will automatically be programmed to be a durationfader.

Another way to ensure that a drawn fader is programmed to be a durationfader is illustrated in FIG. 6. A text object “5000 ms” 21 was typedonscreen. This text object 21 could be any time value, such as seconds,or frames, etc. The text object 21 is typed to intersect the fader 19.As an alternate, the text object 21 could be dragged to intersect thefader 19. In either case, when a collision is detected between the textobject 21 and the fader 19, text object snaps to a position that isdetermined by the Blackspace program. This position could be directlyabove the fader 19, below it or anywhere on screen. Once this textobject 21 appears onscreen, the user can drag it to a new position whereit will remain until the user moves it again.

2. Changing the Order of One or More Slide Show Images.

The process for changing the order of one or more slides show images ina Slide Show VDACC object in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is illustrated in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, an image 23 (which isactually an image in a small VDACC object) is being dragged from itsprevious position 24 in the slide show VDACC object 11 a to a newposition as the first image in the slide show. When this image 23 isdragged to overlap the first image, a blue insert rectangle 14 appearsaround this first image. This blue rectangle 14 tells the user whichimage the dragged image will be inserted in front of. Upon a mouseup-click, the dragged image 23 will be inserted in front of the firstimage in the Slide Show VDACC object 11 a. When the reordering of theslides occurs, all of the small VDACCs in the Slide Show VDACC object 11a are repositioned, as shown by the Slide Show VDACC 11 b. The draggedimage 23 snaps into the first slide position and what was the firstimage moves to position two. What was the third slide is moved toposition four. Since the play cursor 15 is sitting at the left edge ofimage one, the duration editor for the slide one (the newly draggedimage) turns green to indicate that it is the slide currently selectedto play.

3. Inserting One or More Images into a Slide Show.

The process for inserting one or more images into a Slide Show VDACCobject in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is illustratedin FIGS. 8 a and 8 b. In FIG. 8 a, a blue arrow 3 has been drawn tointersect the text object “flower 26.bmp” in the Picture Files VDACCobject. The tip of this arrow 3 has been drawn to overlap the thirdimage in the Slide Show VDACC object 11. The source item for this arrow3 is the text object “flower 26”, which represents a picture or photosaved on the hard drive. The target item for this arrow 3 is the thirdsmall VDACC object 27 in the Slide Show VDACC 11.

When the arrow logic associated with the arrow 3 is activated, e.g., aleft mouse click on the arrowhead 10, the image “flower 26” snaps infront of the small VDACC object 27. All of the images in the Slide ShowVDACC object 11 that exist to the right of the newly placed image“flower 26” will move the space of one image to the right.

FIG. 8 b shows the newly created list of images in the Slide Show VDACCobject 11. The slide show image 28 has now been inserted into the SlideShow VDACC 11 in front of the image 27. All of the other imagesoccurring later than image 27 have been moved to the right in the SlideShow VDACC 11.

Playing a Slide Show in a Play Rectangle (PR).

FIG. 9 shows a Play Rectangle (PR) 29 in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. A user can create a PR, by first creating a switch 33,e.g., by using Object Points (see pending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/103,680, which is incorporated herein by reference), and thentyping the letters PR on the switch. When the switch 33 is thenactivated, e.g., left-clicked on, the PR 29 immediately appears. For adetailed explanation of the PR, see U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/635,747, entitled “Method for Creating and Using Linear Timeline andPlay Rectangle”, filed on Aug. 5, 2003, which is specificallyincorporated by reference herein.

In appearance, the PR 29 looks like a timeline with four sides. But thePR 29 offers functions beyond that of any timeline. For instance, the PR29 can be used to both reposition and resize the images playing back assequential media (as in a slide show), which are sequentially ordered byselecting them with a blue arrow and pointing that arrow to the globaldrawing surface of the Blackspace environment, as described above.

The PR 29 has a play cursor 15 that moves along the outer edge of the PRas media plays. Floating the mouse cursor 30 over the play cursor 15will cause a parameter 31 to appear showing the exact time of the playcursor's location along the PR 29. This play cursor 15 can beleft-clicked on and dragged clockwise or counter-clockwise along the PR29. As the play cursor 15 is dragged, the parameter 31 changes to alwaysshow the exact location of the play cursor along the PR 29. As the playcursor 15 is dragged, the media assigned to the PR 29 will playbackwards or forwards, depending upon the direction and speed of thedrag. A clockwise drag yields a forward direction of play and acounterclockwise drag yields a reverse or backward direction of play.

Using the play cursor on a PR is a strong navigational tool. One reasonis that when the DM Play switch (or its equivalent) is activated, theoverall time of any timeline, including a rectangular timeline (a PR),will automatically change to equal the overall length of the sequentialmedia, e.g., the slide show. For instance, if the slide show is 60seconds long, when the DM Play switch is turned on to play the slideshow, any visible timeline, including the PR, will have its overalllength of time changed to equal 60 seconds. With the full length of amedia presentation shown along a PR, a user can left-click anywherealong the PR and place the play cursor to play any section of thatmedia. Everything is visible to the user on the PR, including the imagesthemselves.

FIG. 10 shows a special feature of the PR 29, which is that images in apiece of sequential media, e.g., a slide show, can be made to play suchthat the images fill the inside area of the PR. To accomplish this auser creates a PR switch 33, e.g., by using Object Points to create ablank switch and then typing the letters PR on that switch. The switch33 is then turned on by clicking on it. When this switch 33 isactivated, the PR 29 appears onscreen at a default size. When the PR 29appears, the image 36 in the Slide Show VDACC object 11 that iscurrently set to be played appears in the PR such that the image fillsthe entire inner area of the PR.

Then when the DM Play switch 34 or its equivalent is activated, theimages in the Slide Show VDACC object 11 are played back in a sequentialorder. This order equals the order that the images appear in the SlideShow VDACC object 11. The onscreen time for each of these images isdetermined by the duration editor 12 for each slide. The action ofhaving the images of the slide show automatically appear in the PR 29 iscontrolled by a user input, such as a keystroke(s) or a selection of anentry in the Info Canvas object 35 (a graphic menu-like object) for theDM Play switch 34. For more information about VDACC objects, see pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/671,953, entitled “Intuitive GraphicUser Interface with Universal Tools”, which is incorporated by referenceherein. To access this entry in the Info Canvas Object 35, a userright-clicks on the DM Play switch 34 and its Info Canvas object 35appears. In this Info Canvas object 35 is a category entitled: “SlideShow.” When this category is activated, i.e., left-clicked on, theentries that belong to this category appear onscreen. In the Info Canvasobject 35, three entries are selected: (1) “Show Images in VDACCs”, (2)“Show images in Play Rectangle”, and (3) “Show DM Cursor in Images”.

The entry “Show Images in VDACCs” activates the appearance onscreen ofthe Slide Show VDACC object 11. The entry “Show images in PlayRectangle” activates the usage of the PR 29 if one has been created asdescribed above. The entry “Show DM Cursor in Images” activates a secondplay cursor 15 b in the PR 29. A first play cursor 15 a exists on thetimeline itself, as described above. This first play cursor 15 a movesclockwise around the perimeter of the PR 29 as the slide show is playedback. The second larger play cursor 15 b, which equals the height of theimage inside the PR 29, moves across the image in the PR from left toright as the slide show plays back. The length of time that it takes forthis play cursor 15 b to reach the right edge of each image presentedwithin the PR 29 equals the duration editor time 12 for that image.

FIG. 11 a shows another feature of the PR 29 when used for playing backa slide show. A user can at any time, even during the live playback of aslide show, left-click on the resize button 32 of the PR 29 and resizethe PR by dragging in any direction, as illustrated by the PR 37 in FIG.11 a. When this action is carried out, the image inside the PR 29 isautomatically resized to match the new dimensions of the resized PR 37.

The PR 29 can be relocated as well as resized. Referring to FIG. 11 b,to relocate the PR 29, a user would left-click on the Gray Bar 38 of thePR 29 and drag in any direction. The image inside the PR 29 will berelocated with the PR.

More Functions of the Play Rectangle (PR).

There is another category located in the Info Canvas object 35 of the DMPlay switch 34. This category is “Play Rectangle Setup” 35 b, as shownin FIG. 12. This category provides additional controls for determiningthe behavior of the PR 29 during slide show playback. There are threebasic types of operations for the PR 29 with a slide show:

A. Images are forced to fit the shape of the PR 29 regardless of theirdimensions or format. In this case, neither of the entries “Fit Image toPR” and “Fit PR to Image” under the sub-category Play Rectangle Setup 35b of FIG. 12 is turned on.

B. The PR 29 controls the overall dimension of the images that areplayed in it, but the images themselves control the format. This mode ofoperation is activated by turning on “Fit Image to PR” entry under thesub-category “Play Rectangle Setup” 35 b of FIG. 12.

C. The PR changes both its format and dimensions to match the format anddimensions of each image playing within it. This mode of operation isactivated by turning on “Fit PR to Image” entry under the sub-category“Play Rectangle Setup” 35 b of FIG. 12.

A. Images Force Fit to the PR.

When neither the “Fit Image to PR” nor the “Fit PR to Image” entries areturned on, the PR 29 is in full control of the geometry of all imagesplaying in a slide shown when the PR is activated. As an example,activating the PR means turning on the PR switch 34. When this occursthe PR 29 becomes visible on the global drawing surface of theBlackspace environment and any image playing in the slide show is madeto completely fill the inside space of the PR. This means that if the PR29 is resized, as shown in FIG. 11 c, by dragging its resize button 32in any direction, the current image playing back in the slide show andall subsequent images will have their geometry changed to match the sizeand shape of the PR. This PR operation has the advantage of permittingusers to create slide shows using any size images where all of theimages are made to conform to one shape and one set of dimensions,namely, that of the PR 29. The disadvantage of this method is that allimages, including landscape, portrait and square format images areresized to fit into a single shape, that of the PR 29. As illustrated inFIG. 11 c, if, for example, landscape is chosen for the shape of the PR29, any portrait image will look skewed when it is played inside the PRbecause it will be resized to match the landscape format of the PR.

B. Fit Image to PR.

If the new image playing back in the slide show has got an aspect ratioof portrait and the PR 29 has got an aspect ratio of landscape, theimage flips the PR's sides between its long side and its short side. Tolook at this more closely, the PR 29 is initially made to resemble alandscape format. This means that its width is greater than its height.Now an image that is of a portrait format is made to play in this PR 29.What happens is that the width and height of the PR 29 are swapped tobecome the dimensions for a portrait format and these dimensions areapplied to the image playing in the PR. Similarly, if the new imageplaying back in the slide show has got an aspect ratio of landscape andthe PR 29 has got an aspect ratio of portrait, the PR is changed to thelandscape format in response to the image. The consequence of this isthat a user has control of the displayed size for both formats. The usersets the shape of the PR 29, which then determines the size of alllandscape, portrait and square images in the slide show. Square imagesare explained under the section below entitled: “Square %.”

Note: Using both the Slide Show VDACC object 11 and the PR 29 onscreencan be very helpful. The PR 29 lets the user control the size andlocation of the images playing back in the slide show, while the SlideShow VDACC object 11 gives the user an overview so the user can see whatall of the images are in the slide show, particularly what the previousand next images are with respect to the currently playing image.

C. Fit PR to Image.

FIG. 13 shows the entry “Fit PR to Image” selected in the category “PlayRectangle Setup” in the Info Canvas object 35 b for the DM Play switch34. “Fit PR to Image” means that each image that is played back in thePR 29 determines the dimensions of the PR. As the slide show is playedback, each image that is called up to play in the slide show causes thePR 29 to change to match the dimensions of this image in its nativestate as it is stored on a hard drive or other such storage medium. Asan example, if the image 36 in FIG. 13 is a portrait image withdimensions of 4 inches wide by 6 inches high, when this image plays backin the PR 29, the dimensions of the PR will be automatically set tomatch the dimensions of this image, namely, 4 inches by 6 inches.

When the next image in the slide show starts to play, the PR 29 willimmediately change to match the dimensions of this image. The dimensionsthat are matched by the PR 29 are the dimensions of the actual picturefile.

Returning to the function “Fit Image to PR”, there are other operationsthat can be applied to images in the PR 29 when the PR is in the “FitImage to PR” mode. These are found under the sub-category entitled:“Auto PR options” located in the Info Canvas object 35 b of the DM Playswitch 34 under the category “Play Rectangle Setup”. Note: Theconditions that are to be described are only operational when “Fit Imageto PR” is on. When “Fit PR to Image” is activated, none of thesefeatures matter, as the PR 29 is controlled by the dimensions of theimages.

Additional functions associated with “Fit Image to PR” are as follows:

1. Auto PR Retains Center Point.

Referring to FIG. 14, what is shown here is the condition when the entry“Auto PR retains center point” is off. This may be the default settingfor playing the slide show. With this option off, all of the images thatplay back in a PR 37 are aligned by their upper left corners to theupper left corner of the PR. Landscape 38 and portrait 39 images changethe dimensions of the PR 37 to match the dimensions of these nativesaved picture formats (the dimensions that the pictures have as rawpicture files stored on a hard drive, CD or other storage medium). But,each of these images is aligned to the previous image by matching thecoordinates of its upper left corner to the coordinates of the upperleft corner of the PR 37. In other words, in this mode, the upper leftcorner of the PR 37 is fixed, although the rest of it will change tomatch the overall geometry of each new image played in it.

When the entry “Auto PR retains center point” 40 is activated, as shownin FIG. 15, the images playing back in the slide show align their centerpoints to the center point 41 of the PR. That is, landscape images 38and portrait images 39 are aligned to the center point 41 of the PR.Note: all of the images in the slide show can be of a different size. Itdoesn't matter. Whatever size the images are, the PR's dimensions willbe automatically adjusted to match them when they become the currentlyplaying image in the slide show.

2. Square %.

Referring to FIG. 16, “% square 95” 42 is a user-defined control todetermine what shall define a “square” image. Ideally, a square image isan image that has four equal sides. The Info Canvas entry 42 enables auser to change this classical definition of a square to something thatis not an ideal square. The number at the end of entry 42 can be changedto anything from 0 to 100. Zero would mean that any object would be asquare and 100 would mean that only an object that had four perfectlyequal sides would be a square. Typing a “95” for this parameter meansthat any object whose sides are within 95% of the length of each otherwould be considered to be a square. This feature exists because manyphotos that appear to be square do not have perfectly matching sides.The PR is designed to change its shape to landscape, portrait and squareoverall shapes.

3. % of Landscape Width.

Referring to FIG. 17, the entry “% of landscape width” 43 in the InfoCanvas object 35 b is the last setting for determining what a square isin a slide show. This function exists because if a square image matchesthe length of each of its sides to a distance that equals the length 44of the PR, square images in the slide show will be quite large,certainly they will feel larger than either the landscape or portraitimages.

On the contrary, if a square image sets the length of each of its sidesto a distance that equals the height of the PR 37, square images in theslide show will appear much smaller than the other images. The solutionis to enable users to determine what the length of all square imageswill be in their slide show when the user has activated the “Fit Imageto PR” mode. Using a factor of 60% for the “% of landscape width” 43means that the length of each side of a square will equal 60% of thelength of the PR's landscape length. Notice that the entry “% oflandscape width” 43 is followed by a numeral. In FIG. 17, this is thenumber “60”. Distance A in FIG. 17 is approximately 60% of distance B,which results in a square 45 from this calculation. To change thispercentage, a user need only place a text cursor next to “60” and type anew number.

A description of the GUI procedure is now described. As used herein, theterm “software” refers to a program that is configured to performoperations in a computer system. In implementation, these programs maybe any combination of software, firmware and/or hardware.

User Drawn Blue Arrow which Intersects Objects Onscreen

Intersections are determined by “collisions” in the drawing space, i.e.,the global drawing surface of the Blackspace environment.

The Blackspace program asks the drawing surface for a list of thingsthat collide in a drawing sense with the objects that it's inquiringabout. Then it gets a list of objects back from the drawing surface.This list includes the things that collide with the object in questionor collide with a certain point on the drawing surface. This is themethod for working out what a drawn arrow is intersecting. This samemethod is used for anything that involves making decisions based on thefact that two things intersect each other.

The software analyzes all objects which overlap each other in any way onthe drawing surface to provide a collision list. Objects which arehidden do not collide but objects which are visible but clipped into aVDACC object do collide but can be mapped out of the collision list ifrequired. This normally is the case.

The collision list contains nothing which is set to be hidden. There arethings that come back from the basic drawing software that are notvisible because they are clipped. For instance, if an object or objectsare placed into a VDACC object and then these objects are scrolled up sothat they are above the top edge of the VDACC object (they are above thevisible area of the VDACC object), then these objects are no longervisible. This is because they are automatically hidden when they scrolloutside any perimeter of a VDACC object into which they are clipped.

If a user clicks in this area with the mouse or its equivalent, thismouse click will not collide with these objects.

The drawing software decides if an object is completely hidden orpartially hidden by virtue of the fact that it is clipped into a VDACCobject, and if this is the case, this object is removed from the list ofcolliding objects. The point here is that collisions must not take placewith objects that the user can't see. Otherwise, the user will not beable to control what the user is doing in the Blackspace environment.

The reason this work needs to be done is because the collision listincludes these objects that are hidden to the user. So these objectsneed to be mapped out of the collision list.

The list of objects which collide with the arrow is sorted according tothe nearest point in the list of points in the arrow's tail.

When the arrow is drawn by the drawing surface, the arrow is drawn usinga list of points that make up the line that becomes the tail of thearrow. The way to sort the objects that are colliding into the rightorder is by seeing what the nearest point in the arrow tail is.

The list of colliding objects is a list in no particular order.Collisions are defined as objects that graphically collide with thearrow tail. This list is asked for by the software manager of thedrawing surface. The drawing software is software that contains thelowest level of drawing objects.

At this point the list of collisions is stored in the arrow objectitself. So the arrow object keeps a list of all the objects with whichit collides. Furthermore, the arrow object keeps two additional lists:(1) a source list—the objects that its tail (arrow shaft) collides with,and (2) a target list—the objects that its head or tip collides with.

Analyze where the Arrow Starts and what it is Pointing at

The arrow provides a collision region at the tip of it's tail andanother extending a short distance in front of its head.

A region is designated at the tip and tail of an arrow that enables auser to draw that arrow such that it doesn't have to actually intersectan object in order to collide with it. If an object is within thiscollision region, it is determined that the arrow collides with it. Adefault for this collision region is approximately 20-30 pixels. This isa user definable parameter which can be changed by making a selection inthe Info Canvas object for the arrow being drawn.

Regarding the shaft of the arrow (the drawn line of the arrow),intersections are made just with the line itself. Although a collisionregion could extend along the length of a drawn arrow's shaft, thiswould in general decrease the accuracy of the drawing of an arrow forthe purpose of selecting items with its shaft. Therefore, there is nocollision region along the shaft of a drawn arrow. This shaft (line)must itself intersect an object to create a valid collision with it.

This is important when a user draws an arrow such that it intersectsonly certain items in a list of graphic objects, e.g., photos, in aVDACC object. What is desired here is that what is visually presented tothe user matches what actually happens with regards to collisions withthe arrow's shaft. So, if the arrow shaft intersects the tiniest part ofa letter that is part of the name of a photo, for instance, that photowill be selected. And, if the shaft just misses the letter, then thisentry (this photo) will not be selected. In the case of a slide show,this means that this photo will not be added to the list of images thatwill play back in the slide show.

The regions at the tip of the tail and the head of an arrow are there toenable a user to more easily select items right where the arrow startsto be drawn and right where the arrow ends. This collision area isvaluable here.

These regions obtain their own collision list and determine the “primesource” at the tail and the “target” at the head.

As previously mentioned, there are two collision lists maintained in anarrow object when it is first drawn: (1) a tail (“prime source”collision list, and (2) a head (tip) “target” collision list. Both ofthese lists are part of the definition of the arrow object.

The prime source and the target are determined as the objects with thehighest z-level in these two collision lists.

If the target collision list for an arrow contains more than one object,then one of these objects must be chosen to be the target. The objectthat is chosen is the object that has the highest layer level, what isreferred to as the highest Z-level.

For example, let's say an arrow is drawn so that it points to an objectthat is in a VDACC object. In this case, the target would contain theobject that is intersected by the arrow and the VDACC object itself. Anyobject sitting in (on) a VDACC object has a higher Z-level than theVDACC object, so the sitting object would be selected as the target forthe arrow. If the arrow tip is on the VDACC object and does notintersect any object on the VDACC object, then the VDACC object willbecome the target for the arrow. If an arrow is drawn to a group ofobjects that are on top of each other, the arrow selects that object inthis group that has the highest Z-level and this becomes its target.

Remove Invalid Objects from the List of Intersected Objects

Below are examples of things which are invalid objects.

Invalid Objects:

VDACC objects which contain the prime source or the target.

The way VDACC objects work is they enable arrows to be drawn acrosstheir perimeter lines without selecting them. Also an arrow can be drawnacross the perimeter lines of VDACC objects to intersect other objectsat the tail, and not select the VDACC objects themselves. This is anecessary operation for the blue arrow. Users can draw the shaft of theblue arrow to intersect any one or more picture files in a VDACC picturefile list and then draw the arrow across a perimeter line of the VDACCobject and point it to the global drawing surface of the Blackspaceenvironment. The blue arrow only selects what it intersects, except forthe VDACC object, which it does not select.

Parts of the arrow or the original line used to draw the arrow.

VDACC object which contains any of the intersected objects.

What is referred to as the Picture File VDACC object, which contains thenames of all of the slide show images that may be selected by the bluearrow to create the slide show. The blue arrow is used to insert newpictures into the slide show. This method involves drawing the shaft ofthe arrow across the perimeter of the Picture File VDACC object. Whenthis is done, the Picture File VDACC object is not selected by thearrow.

Create an “Incomplete” Arrow Logic Using the Passed List of Objects

When an arrow whose color matches a known arrow logic is drawn, it haswhat is referred to as an incomplete arrow logic. When such an arrow isdrawn between one or more objects that are considered valid for thatarrow logic, the head of the arrow turns white (any graphic can be usedhere, e.g., a blinking arrow, flashed arrowhead, etc.). At this point intime this arrow has an incomplete arrow logic. Then when a userleft-clicks (or its equivalent) on this white arrowhead, the arrow logicfor this arrow becomes complete.

Regarding the term “passed list of objects”, this list is passed fromthe arrow object to the arrow logic. At this point the arrow logic issaved in memory. The arrow object has collected data from its source andtarget collision lists. The arrow logic determines which objects areinvalid and which are valid and then passes these lists to the arrowlogic.

The arrow logic is a purely software object which exists in memory.Arrow logics are created as temporary files in memory and are used toeffect the operation the user is trying to create by drawing of an arrowbetween two or more objects on the drawing surface. When these logicsare used, the arrow is discarded and the logic remains in effect in thesystem software until the original link or links that were establishedbetween one or more objects, by the drawing of this arrow, are removed.

The arrow logic defines operations and it contains a list of objects onwhich those operations are performed. An arrow logic is a list ofsources and targets and the logic has a type which is worked out fromthe color that was used to draw the arrow and then when things happen onsource objects they communicate with the arrow logic which they knowthey belong to and call methods on the target objects via the arrowlogic.

The “type” of an arrow logic is the action or function that will becarried out when the logic is complete. There are many different typesof arrow logics and each logic can be assigned to a different color so auser can easily tell them apart. Let's say for instance, a user draws ared arrow and that this color assigned a “control logic” to the drawnarrow. This control logic can be stated as a sentence as follows: “whatthe arrow is drawn from (what objects the arrow intersects at itssource) controls what the arrow points to (the objects that are arrow'starget).”

The “things” that happen as a result of completing an arrow logic aredependent upon the type of arrow logic completed. For instance, if a“control arrow logic” was used between a source fader and two targetfaders, the “thing” that happens is that as the cap of the source faderis moved, the fader caps on the target faders will move with it, becausethey are controlled by the source fader.

In the case of a slide show, the blue arrow has a different logic. Thisarrow logic takes the items that are collided by the drawing of thearrow's tail and causes the following things to happen when the tip ofthis blue arrow is drawn to point to the blank global drawing surface ofthe Blackspace environment.

Each of the intersected items is placed into its own small VDACC objectof a predetermined size, which can be user-defined and altered.

Each of the small VDACC objects is placed into one larger VDACC objectwhere the smaller VDACC objects are arranged in horizontal rows of 8small VDACC objects each.

Each of these source items is assigned a start time and a duration time.

Each start time for each item is delayed later than the previous item bya time that equals the duration of the previous item.

All of the source items can be played back in sequential order whereasthe VDACC object that contains each of these items is not played back,only the item itself.

The blue arrow logic is a sequential logic. It's not limited to images,like photos. It can also be used to play back graphic devices, likefaders, switches, knobs, joysticks and the like in sequential order. Itcan also be used to do the same with text objects, etc.

An arrow logic linker contains a list of its source controls and atarget control.

For example, if an arrow is drawn through a group of photos, the arrowlogic linker knows that a list of photos has been intersected as asource, and if the arrow is pointing to the Blackspace global drawingsurface, there is no target control.

The arrow logic provides a vehicle for objects in the arrow logic tocommunicate with each other. This is not required in this case.

An example of this is what has already been cited. It would be thedrawing of an arrow from one fader to another. This creates an arrowlogic which transmits value changes from one fader to another fader.

In the case of creating a slide show, this is not relevant. Theseobjects are not being asked to send messages to each other. So thedrawing of a blue arrow is not requesting the images selected at thearrow source to send messages to the Blackspace global drawing surface,which is what the tip of the arrow selects when this type of arrow isfirst drawn.

A flag is set which permits the arrow logic to be discarded once it hasbeen processed.

Once the arrow logic is processed, it's no longer needed. This is afterthe white arrowhead has been touched and the logic has effected itsoperations, performed its assigned tasks.

On the processing of an arrow logic, the arrow logic has in part takenall of the images that were created by the result of the arrow beingdrawn to intersect text that represents these images, then created asmall VDACC object for each of these images and then placed each imageinto one of these VDACC objects, and then created a Dyomation session,etc. until it is finished. Then there's no further need for that arrowlogic. For more information on Dyomation (previously referred to as“Drawmation”) operations, in general, see pending U.S. patentapplication, entitled “System and Method for Recording and ReplayingProperty Changes on Graphic Elements in a Computer Environment”, filedon Sep. 26, 2003, which is specifically incorporated by referenceherein.

The processing of the arrow logic takes place after the white arrowheadof the drawn arrow that initiates this logic has been touched(left-clicked on or its equivalent). All of the above described workwhich is done by the arrow logic is a result of touching the whitearrowhead on the drawn arrow. In summary, when an arrow logic hasperformed its assigned tasks, it is discarded unless it is required tobe retained as a functional link.

The result of the above described arrow logic performing its assignedtasks is a Dyomation session with some specific behavior attached to it.With regards to a slide show, the arrow logic creates the sequentialorder of the slide show elements (the source objects for the originallydrawn blue arrow) and its job is done.

A flag is also set to indicate that the drawn arrow can be discardedonce the arrow logic has been processed.

The discarding of the drawn arrow results in the arrow disappearing onceits white arrow head is left-clicked on by a user.

In this case, it is valid for the arrow logic to have no target if itwas drawn pointing to raw Blackspace global drawing surface.

Slide shows are created using a special arrow logic that is not a slideshow logic. A slide show is just one use of this arrow logic. The arrowlogic operates by drawing the shaft of an arrow to intersect variousmedia and then the target of this arrow is the Blackspace global drawingsurface. In fact, the arrowhead must point to the blank Blackspaceglobal drawing surface in order for this logic to be valid.

There is an exception to this in that once a slide show is created, youcan draw the same blue arrow to the Slide Show VDACC object to insertmore slides.

This logic is assigned as a default to the color blue. The assignment ofcolors to arrows is a user controllable function. See pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/880,397.

The logic that is used to create slide shows reads as follows: “Theobjects that the arrow is drawn from (that the arrow either intersectsand/or encircles) are each placed into its own VDACC object, assigned adefault onscreen time, and then assigned a sequential order which is theorder that they are played back. This is the order that they wereintersected or selected by the drawing of a blue arrow (or anothercolored arrow that has this logic assigned to it).”

One might think of this particular arrow logic as a “sequential” logic.All types of media can be intersected or encircled with this arrow andcaused to play in sequential order. These media include: pictures(photos), text, recognized graphic objects, free drawn lines, graphicdevices (e.g., faders, switches and knobs and joysticks), video,animation (like Dyomation sessions), documents, glued conglomerates(glued groups of items), VDACC objects with or without objects withinthem, and the like.

This sequential arrow logic is not limited to picture files, e.g., .png,.jpeg, .gif, .bmp, etc. Graphic objects, like stars, folders, circles,etc., can be sequentially presented with this blue arrow logic. Anynumber of text objects typed in the Blackspace global drawing surface orin a VDACC object can be presented sequentially with this arrow logic.

If the user clicks on the arrowhead, the arrow logic data is passed tothe slide show manager. Clicking on the head of a blue arrow (where thearrow head has turned white) is the last step in causing the itemsintersected by this drawn arrow to be sequentially placed into VDACCobjects ready to be played back in their sequential order.

A description of a process to a slide show from an arrow logic is nowdescribed.

1. Test that the arrow logic is of the correct type. The slide showmanager makes this test. When an arrow is drawn, the color of the arrowis translated into an arrow type, which is performed before this step.By this time, color is not part of the equation any more.

2. Create a small VDACC object and make enough copies of this VDACCobject to hold all the items in the arrow logic source list. This stepcreates a VDACC object for each item that exists in the arrow logic'ssource list for the arrow that was drawn in the Blackspace environment.

3. Examine each object in the source list. This source list is from thearrow logic. The source list is generated by the object that the arrowintersects with its shaft.

If the object is a text object representing a disk file, then send arequest to the file management system to create an object from the file.This is most appropriate for files representing pictures. A picture file(photo file) can be represented as a text file in a VDACC object forinstance. An arrow can be drawn to intersect various text files in thisVDACC object. These text files can represent image files storedsomewhere, e.g., on a hard drive, CD or other storage medium. A flag isset to say that the slide show manager is waiting for content to bereturned. In other words, a request is sent out to get a picture (photo)from a file name on the source list. The picture is returned by the filesystem to the GUI software. When this object is returned by the filemanagement system it follows the procedure below.

The following procedure is performed when the graphic object isreturned.

If it's any other text object, it is resized so that it has theappearance of being approximately 12 point in size.

If it's any other kind of graphic object it is resized to the size ofthe small VDACC object.

Each object is processed like this is placed into one of the small VDACCobjects. At the same time, it is locked to the surface of the VDACCobject. Each of these VDACC objects is now treated as a slide.

4. As each object is placed into its small VDACC object, the VDACCobject is assigned a start time and a duration based on settings storedin the slide show object. The slide show object is the softwareconstruct, the slide show management software, which is managing thisprocess. This slide show management software has a list of the starttimes, end times and duration times for each item that has been placedinto a small VDACC object.

The user controls these settings via entries in the slide show categoryentry, which is part of the Info Canvas object of the DM play switch.The start time stored is cumulative based on the calculated end time ofthe previous slide. In other words, each new slide's start time is at atime that equals all of the previous slides before it added together. Aseach object is assigned a time, a text object is created which is“connected” to the slide. The “slide” is a small VDACC object with animage in it. The text object that is added shows the duration time forthe slide. This text object is generally placed above the slide, but itcould be placed anywhere. When the user edits this text object, theduration of the slide is altered accordingly. See “Changing the onscreentime of one or more slide show images” described above.

5. When all the content has been acquired as above, the slides areordered and placed into the slide show VDACC object. The size andposition of this slide show VDACC object are calculated to showhorizontal rows of eight slides, which is the default for the software.However, the slides could be organized in many different arrangements.This arrangement is then shown to the user. The word “content” hererefers to all of the individual items that comprise the slide show,including the requests that have been sent to the file system to getpictures from it.

6. Create a Dyomation session.

A request is sent to the Dyomation manager to create a session longenough to include all the slides. This session generally equals thelength of the sum of all the duration times for all of the slides in thesession.

A Dyomation event to show and hide each slide is sent to the Dyomationmanager. Each slide is set to have a “hide” event, which is 1 ms laterthan the “show” event for the next slide. This is so that the userperceives no gaps between adjacent slides. There is an event assigned toeach of the small VDACC objects in the slide show to have the itemassigned to it to show (be visible) for the duration of time that is setby its text object and then hide it for the rest of the duration of theslide show. There are two events here, a show event and a hide eventthat are created for each slide. The hide event for each slide equalsthe start time of that slide plus its duration.

7. Although the slide show management software keeps notes of the timesfor various features, in order that they can be edited, saved, etc., itis now the Dyomation manager which is the holder of the authoritativeinformation.

In other words, what happens when a user activates the Dyomation playswitch to play the slide show is entirely under the control of theDyomation manager, not the slide show manager.

Turning now to FIG. 18, a flow chart for playing a slide show is shown.All real time behavior is controlled by the Dyomation manager. Real timebehavior means the real time manipulation of graphics on the drawingsurface. Dyomation manager works by sending out event messages, and thetiming of these messages is the responsibility of Dyomation manager, notthe slide show manager.

When a user does anything graphically in the Blackspace environment (onthe computer screen), this is recorded by maintaining a record of allthe event messages associated with those actions. These event messagesare managed by the Dyomation manager. In the case of a slide show, theevent messages are created partially by the arrow logic which createsthe sequential order of the items and places them in VDACC objects,combined with any inserts or edits that a user would add to the slideshow subsequent to its initial creation by the drawing of the arrow. Theslide show provides its own features by intercepting messages comingfrom the Dyomation manager to the GUI. Most of these are “show” and“hide” messages.

Intercepting messages is a basis for the slide show manager. What theslide show manager does is intercept messages that it understands. Whatit does in a Dyomation session is to send a set of show and hidemessages and have those replayed. When the Dyomation manager normallysends a show message, that message has a defined behavior. It causes anobject to become visible and that's the point.

But the slide show object requires a more complex behavior. So the slideshow manager intercepts this message and doesn't just show the item, theslide show manager modifies the item according to features controlled bythe slide show manager. This is what this flow chart shows.

Is a message received? 50. This is a message from the Dyomation manager.The Dyomation manager is sending the message to the GUI managementsoftware. The reason the Dyomation manager is sending it is because thatmessage's time has arrived. An example of this would be this. There isan image in one of the small VDACC objects in the slide show VDACCobject. The start time of this image equals the current time of theplayback. Because it's start time equals the current time, a message issent to the GUI management software to say show this image. The imagethat just finished playing has a message that is sent to the GUImanagement software that says “hide me.”

The Dyomation manager doesn't know anything about slide shows. It's justsending out messages. The Dyomation manager is the system for having theBlackspace program play things in real time. It does this by sendingmessages to the GUI management software to tell the GUI managementsoftware what to do. When a slide show is created, a set of messages isartificially inserted which is simplified to the extent that themessages are just a show message and a hide message. When these messagesare played back, the slide show recognized that they are either a showor a hide message for one of its members and stops that message fromgoing straight to the object and applies various behaviors to thatmessage through the slide show manager.

The slide show manager acts as a monitor on the Dyomation messages andinvokes a special behavior if the message fulfills certain criteria.

When a user is playing back a Dyomation session, it contains a list ofevents which it is sending out when the right time arrives for thatevent to happen. Creating a slide show artificially creates a series ofevents for the objects that the slide show is managing.

When those events are played back by the Dyomation manager, the slideshow manager recognizes that that event is one that it created. Thiscauses the slide show behavior to be invoked for that event, as opposedto passing it straight to the GUI management software.

Then, is message “modify”? 52. What kind of message is this? Is this a“modify” message? There are various message types in a Dyomationsession. This is one of the message types.

Then, is message aimed at a member of the slide show? 54. In otherwords, is the message aimed at one of the graphical elements that isunder the control of the slide show manager? If the answer to any ofthese first three questions is “no”, the software aborts.

Then find that slide 56. The software finds the image that is currentlybeing played. This means find the small VDACC object with a certainstart time and duration time. The message is not recognized by virtue ofthe time. It is recognized by virtue of the ID for that slide. The slideshow manager has a list of IDs for the objects that make up the slideshow. So it recognizes that this message is being sent to the ID of oneof its objects (which could contain an image, a text object, a graphicdevice or other type of graphic object).

Every object in the system has an ID. Not just graphic objects, but alsosystem objects and software objects have unique ID s. So the slide showcan know which objects belong to it just by looking at the ID for eachof those objects. At this point the slide show manager doesn't need toknow about time.

The Dyomation manager sends a message to the GUI management softwaresaying: “Show an object with this ID.” There are no times in thismessage. The slide show manager looks at the ID of an object and if thisID is in the slide show manager list, then it says “this is one ofmine.”

The ID of the object in the message will identify one of the slides. Theslide show manager “finds that slide” using the ID in its list. So theslide show manager knows that there is a message. It knows that themessage is aimed at a member of its slide show, which is a slide. And itknows that in that message is the ID so it can find the slide based onthe ID in the message.

Then, is message “show”? 58. One of the modify messages is “modifyvisibility”. This is saying, is this a show message, namely, makevisible?

If no, then is message “hide”? 74. If no, the process is done. If yes,then hide a slide in slide show 76.

If yes at block 58, then is full screen mode on? 60. If yes, thenrescale slide contents to fit the screen 62, and the process is done.

If no, then is “show image in VDACC object” ON? 64. If yes, then setduration text green 66. If no, then proceed to block 68.

When an image in the Slide Show VDACC object is on (it is the image thatis currently playing), the duration text (what is referred to as theonscreen time parameter) for that image turns green. Normally thisparameter would be white. The onscreen time parameter is the numberabove the image in the Slide Show VDACC object. This parameterdetermines how long the image will remain onscreen in the slide show.This text turns green to show the user that this is the current slidethat is being played in the slide show.

Does PR exist and “show in PR mode” on? 68. The software checks to seeif the Play Rectangle exists. Now this doesn't necessarily mean that thePR is itself visible. In fact the PR may be invisible, but its effectwill be visible. Its control will be visible.

When a slide show has been created, turning on a PR switch causes theimages being played back in the slide show to play back such that eachimage is automatically resized to fill the inside area of a PR. When the“show in PR mode” is turned on, then the PR itself can be turned off.This is achieved by creating and placing a new VDACC object which fitsinside the dimensions of the Play Rectangle. This is described in moredetail below.

There is no question that the PR still exists because the slide showimage remains resized according to the size of the PR that was justvisible onscreen. The PR still governs the size of each slide show imageduring playback even though it becomes invisible when the PR switch isturned off.

Turning the PR switch off is a logical thing to do, as it permits theslide show images to playback as images in the Blackspace environmentwithout anything added around their perimeter. This is, of course,exactly what the PR appears to do when it is visible. It adds the PRtimeline around the perimeter of each image in the slide show.

If yes, then show a slide in a PR 70 and the process is done. If no,then display slide in its VDACC object 72 and the process is done. Ifthe item is already present in its small VDACC object, there is nothingto do here. But if is not visible onscreen, the image is resized to fitback into its VDACC object.

Turning now to FIG. 19, a flow chart for showing a slide in a PlayRectangle is shown. This process corresponds to the “show a slide in aPR” processing block 70 of FIG. 18. Is “fit PR to image” on? 78. Thisentry is found in the DM Play switch's Info Canvas object under thecategory “Slide Show.” Fit PR to image means adjust the aspect ratio ofthe PR to match that of the primary object in the slide. The overallsize of the PR remains the same.

If no, then proceed to block 92. If yes, then is image square? 80. Ifyes, then set PR to be square 82. The process then proceeds to resizeobject to fit PR dimensions 106.

If image is not a square, then is PR square? 84. If yes, restoreprevious PR dimension 86. The process then proceeds to block 106.

If when playing a slide show one image is square and then the next imageis not square, the square shape of the PR needs to be undone.

If the PR is not a square, then do PR and image have the same aspectratio? 88.

If yes, then resize object to fit PR dimensions 106 and the process isdone. If no, then switch PR between landscape and portrait 90. Thenresize object to fit PR dimensions 106.

Referring back to block 78, if no, then is “fit image to PR” on? 92. Ifyes, then is image a picture? 94. If yes, then set PR size to picturesize 98 and then resize object to fit PR dimensions 106.

If no, then is image a text object? 100.

If yes, then set text to original font size (remove all scaling) 102.Then set PR size to size of text 104 and then resize object to fit PRdimensions 106. If image is not a text object, then resize object to fitPR dimensions 106.

Fit image to PR is also found in the DM Play switch's Info Canvas objectunder the category “Slide Show”. Fit image to PR means that each imagein the slide show has its geometry changed to match the dimensions ofthe Play Rectangle. These dimensions can be changed by the user at anytime, even while the slide show is playing back. If neither “Fit PR toimage” or “Fit image to PR” are set on, then the size and shape of thePR is unaffected by slide contents.

To accomplish this, the user left-clicks on the resize button of thePlay Rectangle, located in its lower right corner, and drags in anydirection. As the Play Rectangle's dimensions are changed, the slideshow PR VDACC object shown inside the Play Rectangle is changed to matchthe new dimensions. Furthermore, when this change occurs for the imagein the Play Rectangle, this change is automatically applied to each andevery subsequent image which plays back in the slide show, until thedimensions of the Play Rectangle are changed again. In each case, thenew dimensions for the Play Rectangle will govern the dimensions ofevery image that plays back in the slide show from that moment on.

Regarding the step “set text to original font size (remove all scaling)102”, the slide show manager is not limited to playing back images(pictures) as slides. It can also play back text typed on the drawingsurface. In the Blackspace environment, typed text is itself an object.Each time a user places a text cursor and types text, a text object iscreated. So multiple text objects can be created and used as a sourcelist by intersecting them with a drawn blue arrow (or its equivalent).Then these text objects will play back in a slide show just as picturefiles, e.g., .png, .jpeg, .bmp, .gif, etc., can be played back in aslide show.

Additionally, recognized objects and graphic devices can be made to playback as slides. The method of their playback is the same as that forimages and text objects.

Turning now to FIG. 20, a flow chart for hiding a slide in a slide showis shown. Set duration editor white 108. The duration editor is a smalltext parameter that appears above each small VDACC object which containseach image in the slide show. The default time for this duration editoris 5.000 seconds.

Then is “show in VDACCs” on? 110. This is turned on by activating theentry “Show images in VDACCs” which is found in the Info Canvas objectfor the DM Play switch under the category “Slide Show.”

If no, then hide image 112 and proceed to block 114. If yes, then isslide currently in PR 114.

If yes, then does slide contain a text object? 118

If no, then resize slide to the dimensions of the VDACC object 122. Thenplace slide contents back into the VDACC object 124 and the process isdone.

This means the image is resized to fit into a small VDACC object whichappears in the Slide Show VDACC object.

Referring again to does slide contain a text object? 118, if yes, thenresize text object so that it has the appearance of 12 point 120. Thenplace slide contents back into the VDACC object 124 and the process isdone.

Text is resized to have the appearance of 12 point so that text objectsof any size can be read inside the small VDACC objects in the Slide ShowVDACC object. For instance, let's say that a user typed a text objectusing 48 point Times New Roman. If a font of this size were to be showninside a small VDACC object that is approximately an inch square, thistext could not be read. Even if the text were skewed to fit into thesmall VDACC object, it would not likely be easily readable. The solutionis to have the text rescaled to 12 point text which will easily fit intoa one inch square VDACC object and be readable.

Referring back to is slide currently in PR? 116, if no, then is slidecurrently full screen 116. If no, then process is done. If yes, then theprocess proceeds to block 118, as described above.

Turning now to FIG. 21, a flow chart for using a Play Rectangle isshown. The user can create a Play Rectangle for use with the slide show.This is done by creating a switch and labeling it “PR”. This causes theDyomation manager to log the switch as one it is interested in.

The Dyomation manager keeps a list of timelines and switches which arerelated to Dyomation sessions. If a user types PR on a switch, theDyomation manager recognizes “PR” as something whose functionality itknows about. The Dyomation manager will then store the existence of thisswitch in its own internal list. Then the user would press this PRswitch—this event is intercepted by the Dyomation manager.

When the user turns on the PR switch, a message is sent out to theDyomation manager (amongst others) to say that the switch has beenpressed. The Dyomation manager acknowledges the existence of thisswitch.

The Dyomation manager requests the GUI software to create a PlayRectangle (a rectangular timeline). When the PR is created the Dyomationmanager logs the association between the PR and the switch. In future,each time the switch is pressed, the Dyomation manager causes the PR tobe shown or hidden.

When a PR is created, this event is intercepted by the slide showobject, which follows this procedure. This slide show object is theslide show manager software object.

Slide show receives “PR created” event 126.

Then, is “show image in PR” ON 128 and “show image in VDACC” OFF? 128

If yes, then hide the Slide Show container VDACC object 130.

Then is “show image in PR” ON 132?

If no, then tell the PR to notify the slide show manager whenever itsgeometry changes 136 and the process is done. This means that if theslide show has one of its objects in the Play Rectangle (PR) and thedimensions of the PR are changed, then the slide show resizes the objectto what it's just been told the new size is. The resizing of the PlayRectangle would be accomplished by a user clicking on the resize buttonof the Play Rectangle and dragging any direction.

If yes, then create a PR VDACC object fitting inside the PR 133 and showa slide in the PR 134, as described above with respect the flow diagramof FIG. 19.

Turning now to FIG. 22, a flow chart for changing the Play Rectanglegeometry is shown. When the slide show receives notification from a PRthat its geometry has changed . . . .

Is there a slide currently being shown in the PR? 138.

If yes, then resize the PR VDACC object to fit the new geometry 140 andthe process is done.

If no, then abort the process.

If a slide show is playing back in a Play Rectangle (PR) and the PR isresized or moved onscreen, then every slide in the slide show from thismoment forward is resized and appears in the new location to which thePR was moved.

Whenever the Play Rectangle's geometry changes, which includes beingmoved, it tells the slide show manager and the slide show manager willthen cause the PR VDACC object of the Play Rectangle to also move andresize. Every time an event happens which causes a slide to be put intothe Play Rectangle then it looks at the current PR VDACC objectdimensions and makes that the size for the image or whatever is playingback at that time in the slide show. Every time an event happens whichcauses the slide show to place an image into a Play Rectangle, then theslide show manager asks the Play Rectangle how big it is and resizes theimage accordingly. The Play Rectangle notifies the slide show objectwhenever its geometry changes.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG.23, a Play Rectangle (PR) 142 includes a VDACC object 144 that isautomatically created when the PR is made to appear onscreen. This PRVDACC object 144 fits just inside the rectangular border 146 or “graybar” of the PR 142. The PR VDACC object 144 has its outline hidden sothat it is not an intrusive graphic component. In addition, the PR VDACCobject 144 has its dimensions adjusted automatically to follow anydimensional changes that occur on the PR 142. If the PR is moved orresized, either automatically or by the user, then the PR VDACC object144 is adjusted to match this change. The PR VDACC object 144 is set to“rescale” mode so that any change to the dimensions of the PR VDACCobject 144 will rescale the contents of the PR VDACC object, which arethe slide contents that are being played in the PR 142 for a slide show.Thus, the PR 142 is configured to include all the features of a VDACCobject that has been set to these conditions.

In this embodiment, the process for playing a slide show in the PR 142involves sequentially displaying selected slides in the PR VDACC object144. If the slide show options are set to use the PR 142, then when the“show slide” message is received from the Dyomation manager, thecontents of a current slide to be displayed are removed from its smallVDACC object in the Slide Show VDACC object, which are shown, forexample, in FIG. 2, and resized to fit the PR VDACC object 144. Thecontents are then placed into the PR VDACC object 144. When a “hideslide” message is received from the Dyomation manager, the contents ofthe PR 142 (i.e., in the PR VDACC object 144) are rescaled back andplaced back into the respective small VDACC object in the Slide ShowVDACC object. These steps are repeated for each slide in the slide showbeing played.

The advantage of using the PR VDACC object 144 contained in the PR 142is that all the tools of the Blackspace environment can be used tocustomized the contents of a slide while the slide is displayed in thePR. Since the slide that is currently being displayed in the PR 142 isplaced in the PR VDACC object 144, the contents of that slide can bemodified as easily as contents in any VDACC object. In addition, sinceDyomation data for a slide show involves only the overall slides and notfor any of the contents of the slides, the contents of the slides canfreely be altered without affecting the playback of the slide show.

As an example, a user may want to include some text along with a slidecontaining a picture. With the PR VDACC object 144 in the PR 142, anytext can easily be added to the picture displayed in the PR. Asillustrated in FIG. 24 a, text 148 may be added to a picture that iscurrently being displayed in the PR 142 by simply typing the text on thepicture in the PR VDACC object 144 of the PR. Alternatively, asillustrated in FIG. 24 b, the text 148 may be added to the picturedisplayed in the PR 142 by dragging the text from the Blackspace globaldrawing surface into the PR VDACC object 144 and then releasing thattext over the picture displayed in the PR 142.

The contents of VDACC objects, including the PR VDACC object 144, aremanipulated in the Blackspace environment by processing “collisions”between objects in the Blackspace global drawing surface. As usedherein, a colliding object means the object being moved and being“dropped” onto another object. “Dropped” means moved with a mouse (or byanother software process) and then let go to land in a new position inthe Blackspace environment. Alternatively, a colliding object may be theobject being entered over another object, e.g., text being typed over anobject. In addition, a collision target means an object onto which someother object is being “dropped”.

Any object that is placed in a VDACC object collides with the VDACCobject and becomes under control of that VDACC object. To a user, anyobject that is placed in a VDACC object becomes automatically clipped oragglomerated to the workspace canvas of the VDACC object along withother objects that may already be in the VDACC object. Thus, thecontents of a VDACC object can be changed by removing objects from oradding objects to the VDACC object.

However, in some instances, a user may want to record a Dyomationsession during which one or more objects are placed over the slide beingdisplayed in a PR without adding the objects to the PR VDACC object 144,and thus, modifying the contents of the slide. As an example, a user maywant to show the typing of text, character by character by recording thetyping in a Dyomation session. In such a case, the new objects (textcharacters) being placed into the VDACC object of the PR must beprevented from becoming part of the slide data or “agglomerating” intothe slide. Thus, the PR VDACC object 144 of the PR 142 includes asetting to deactivate the “auto-agglomerate” feature of the PR VDACCobject. This setting may be included in the Info Canvas object of a DMswitch for a user to select. When this feature is deactivated, thencollisions with slide show objects displayed in the PR 144 are rejectedand the colliding object is not placed into any small VDACC object ofthe Slide Show VDACC object.

Turning now to FIG. 25, a flow chart of a process for handing collisionsbetween objects in reference to a slide show is shown. At block 150, adetermination is made whether the colliding object is a slide VDACCobject, a small VDACC object in a Slide Show VDACC object. If so, thenanother determination is made whether the collision target is also aslide VDACC object, at block 152. If so, then slide show sortingoperations are performed, at block 154. The slide show sortingoperations have already been described above (paragraph [0059] and FIG.7). Then, at block 156, GUI collision is prevented from proceedingfurther and the process comes to an end.

If the colliding object is not a slide VDACC object or if the collisiontarget is not a slide VDACC object, then a determination is made whetherthe collision target is any object in a slide VDACC object, at block158. If no, then the process proceeds to block 166, where GUI collisionis allowed to proceed as normal and the process comes to an end. Thatis, the colliding object is added to the PR VDACC object to become apart of the slide being displayed in the PR VDACC object of the PR.However, if the collision target is an object in a slide VDACC object,then the process proceeds to block 160, where a determination is madewhether the Dyomation operation is running and not paused.

If so, then the process proceeds to block 156. However, if no, anotherdetermination is made whether the auto-agglomerate setting is ON, atblock 162. If no, then the process proceeds to block 156. If so, the“prevent DM” is set on the colliding object and the process proceeds toblock 166.

Turning now to FIG. 26, a computer system 170 in which a method formodifying a slide show in accordance with an embodiment of the inventionhas been implemented is shown. The computer system 170 may be a personalcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or any computing systemwith a display device. In one embodiment, the method may be embodied ina computer readable storage medium, such as a CD, that includesinstructions, which can be executed by the computer system 170, toimplement the method in the system.

As illustrated in FIG. 26, the computer system 170 includes an inputdevice 172, a display device 174 and a processing device 176. Althoughthese devices are shown as separate devices, two or more of thesedevices may be integrated together. The input device 172 allows a userto input commands into the system 170, for example, to enter numericand/or textual characters into a slide displayed in a PR or to drag oneor more graphic objects into that slide. The input device 172 mayinclude a computer keyboard and a mouse. However, the input device 172may be any type of electronic input device, such as buttons, dials,levers and/or switches on the processing device 176. Alternatively, theinput device 172 may be part of a touch-sensitive display that allows auser to input commands using a stylus. The display device 174 may be anytype of a display device, such as those found in personal computersystems, e.g., CRT monitors or LCD monitors.

The processing device 176 of the computer system 170 includes a diskdrive 178, memory 180, a processor 182, an input interface 184, and avideo driver 186. The processing device 176 further includes a slideshow manager module 188, a GUI module 190 and a Dyomation manager module192, which performs various tasks related to creating, playing andmodifying of slide shows. As shown in FIG. 26, the slide show managermodule 188, the GUI module 190 and the Dyomation manager module 192 maybe implemented as part of a computer program 194, e.g., a Blackspaceprogram that provides the Blackspace operating environment. In oneembodiment, these modules 188-192 are implemented as software. However,the modules 188-192 may be implemented in any combination of hardware,firmware and/or software.

The disk drive 178, the memory 180, the processor 182, the inputinterface 184 and the video driver 186 are components that are commonlyfound in personal computers. The disk drive 178 provides a means toinput data and to install programs into the system 170 from an externalcomputer readable storage medium. As an example, the disk drive 178 maya CD drive to read data contained therein. The memory 180 is a storagemedium to store various data utilized by the computer system 170. Thememory 180 may be a hard disk drive, read-only memory (ROM) or otherforms of memory. The processor 182 may be any type of digital signalprocessor that can run the computer program 194, including the slideshow manager module 188, the GUI module 190 and the Dyomation managermodule 192. The input interface 184 provides an interface between theprocessing device 176 and the input device 172. The video driver 186drives the display device 174. In order to simplify the figure,additional components that are commonly found in a processing device ofa personal computer system are not shown or described.

A method for modifying a sequential media of slides, e.g., a slide showof images, is described with reference to a flow diagram of FIG. 27. Atblock 200, a particular slide of the sequential media is displayed in aplay rectangle of a display. The play rectangle has an agglomerativeproperty for graphic objects placed in the play rectangle. Next, atblock 202, a graphic object is placed in the play rectangle when theparticular slide is displayed in the play rectangle. Next, at block 204,the graphic object is automatically added to the play rectangle suchthat the graphic object is appended to the particular slide forsubsequent sequential display of the slides in the play rectangle,including the particular slide with the graphic object.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms orarrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of theinvention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto and theirequivalents.

1. A method for modifying a sequential media of slides, said methodcomprising: providing graphic elements that represent slides in acomputer operating environment displayed on a display device; drawing agraphical directional indicator that intersects some of said graphicelements and points to a global drawing surface of said computeroperating environment in response to user input to select some of saidgraphic elements to create said sequential media; activating a logicassociated with said graphical directional indicator to create saidsequential media; collectively displaying slides of said selectedgraphic elements in a slide display area in said display device inresponse to said logic being activated; and; displaying a play area insaid display device along with said slide display area in which saidslides are sequentially displayed when said sequential media is playedin response to said logic being activated.
 2. The method of claim 1further comprising: placing a graphic object in said play area when aparticular slide of said sequential media is displayed in said play areain response to user input; and automatically adding said graphic objectto said play area such that said graphic object is appended to saidparticular slide for subsequent sequential display of said slides insaid play area, including said particular slide with said graphicobject.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said slide display areaincludes a first play cursor that moves through said slides displayed insaid slide display area when said sequential media is played, whereinsaid play area has an agglomerative property for graphic objects placedin said play area, and wherein said play area including a second playcursor that moves along at least most of the entire perimeter of saidplay area as said slides are sequentially displayed in said plate area.4. The method of claim 3 wherein said adding of said graphic object isexecuted only when said agglomerative property of said play area has notbeen deactivated.
 5. The method of claim 2 wherein said placing of saidgraphic object includes typing text onto said particular slide displayedin said play area.
 6. The method of claim 2 wherein said placing of saidgraphic object includes dragging said graphic object from outside ofsaid play area into said play area.
 7. The method of claim 2 whereinsaid placing of said graphic object includes moving said graphic objectfrom a first location within said play area to a second location withinsaid play area.
 8. The method of claim 2 wherein said displaying saidslides of said selected graphic elements in said slide display areaincludes displaying said slides of said selected graphic elements insaid slide display area in the order in which said selected graphicelements were selected using said graphical directional indicator. 9.The method of claim 2 further comprising sequentially transferring eachof said slides between said slide display area and said play area tosequentially display said slides in said play area.
 10. The method ofclaim 9 wherein said sequentially transferring each of said slidesincludes transferring said particular slide back to said slide displayarea with said graphic object appended to said particular slide aftersaid particular slide has been displayed in said play area.
 11. Themethod of claim 10 wherein said sequentially transferring each of saidslides includes transferring said particular slide with said graphicobject appended to said particular slide from said slide display area tosaid play area to display said particular slide with said graphic objectin said play area.
 12. A system which includes a processor and memoryfor modifying a sequential media of slides, said system comprising: aslide display area displayed in a computer operating environmentdisplayed on a display device, said slide display area being used tocollectively display said slides of said sequential media; a play areadisplayed in said computer operating environment displayed on saiddisplay device along with said slide display area, said play area beingused to sequentially display said slides when said sequential media isplayed; a media manager module configured to provide said slides in saidslide display area when a graphical directional indicator that intersectone or more graphic elements that represent said slides and points to aglobal drawing surface of said computer operating environment inresponse to user input and a logic associated with said graphicaldirectional indicator is activated to create said sequential media, saidmedia manager module being further configured to display said slidedisplay area and said play area in response to said logic beingactivated.
 13. The system of claim 12 wherein said media manager moduleis further configured to place a graphic object in said play area when aparticular slide of said sequential media is displayed in said play areain response to user input, said media manager module being furtherconfigured to automatically add said graphic object to said play areasuch that said graphic object is appended to said particular slide forsubsequent sequential display of said slides in said play area,including said particular slide with said graphic object.
 14. The systemof claim 13 wherein said slide display area includes a first play cursorthat moves through said slides displayed in said slide display area whensaid sequential media is played, wherein said play area has anagglomerative property for graphic objects placed in said play area, andwherein said play area including a second play cursor that moves alongat least most of the entire perimeter of said play area as said slidesare sequentially displayed in said play area.
 15. The system of claim 13wherein said play area is configured to automatically add text to saidplay area and append said text to said particular slide when said textis typed onto said particular slide displayed in said play area.
 16. Thesystem of claim 13 wherein said play area is configured to automaticallyadd said graphic object to said play area and append said graphic objectwhen said graphic object is dragged from outside of said play area intosaid play area.
 17. The system of claim 13 wherein said play area isconfigured to allow said graphic object appended to said particular tobe moved from a first location within said play area to a secondlocation within said play area.
 18. The system of claim 13 wherein saidmedia manager module is configured to provide said slides of saidselected graphic elements to said slide display area in the order inwhich said selected graphic elements were selected using said graphicaldirectional indicator.
 19. The system of claim 13 wherein said mediamanager module is configured to sequentially transfer each of saidslides between said slide display area and said play area tosequentially display said slides in said play area.
 20. The system ofclaim 19 wherein said media manager module is configured to transfersaid particular slide back to said slide display area with said graphicobject appended to said particular slide after said particular slide hasbeen displayed in said play area.
 21. The system of claim 19 whereinsaid media manager module is configured to transfer said particularslide with said graphic object appended to said particular slide fromsaid slide display area to said play area to display said particularslide with said graphic object in said play area.
 22. A storage mediumreadable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructionsexecutable by said computer to perform method steps for modifying asequential media of slides, said method steps comprising: providinggraphic elements that represent slides in a computer operatingenvironment displayed on a display device; drawing a graphicaldirectional indicator that intersects some of said graphic elements andpoints to a global drawing surface of said computer operatingenvironment in response to user input to select some of said graphicelements to create said sequential media; activating a logic associatedwith said graphical directional indicator to create said sequentialmedia; collectively displaying slides of said selected graphic elementsin a slide display area in said display device in response to said logicbeing activated; and displaying a play area in said display device alongwith said slide display area in which said slides are sequentiallydisplayed when said sequential media is played in response to said logicbeing activated.
 23. The storage medium of claim 22 wherein the methodsteps further comprises: placing a graphic object in said play area whena particular slide of said sequential media is displayed in said playarea in response to user input; and automatically adding said graphicobject to said play area such that said graphic object is appended tosaid particular slide for subsequent sequential display of said slidesin said play area, including said particular slide with said graphicobject.
 24. The storage medium of claim 23 wherein said slide displayarea includes a first play cursor that moves through said slidesdisplayed in said slide display area when said sequential media isplayed, wherein said play area has an agglomerative property for graphicobjects placed in said play area, and wherein said play area including asecond play cursor that moves along at least most of the entireperimeter of said play area as said slides are sequentially displayed insaid play area.
 25. The storage medium of claim 24 wherein said addingof said graphic object is executed only when said agglomerative propertyof said play area has not been deactivated.
 26. The storage medium ofclaim 23 wherein said placing of said graphic object includes typingtext onto said particular slide displayed in said play area.
 27. Thestorage medium of claim 23 wherein said placing of said graphic objectincludes dragging said graphic object from outside of said play areainto said play area.
 28. The storage medium of claim 23 wherein saidplacing of said graphic object includes moving said graphic object froma first location within said play area to a second location within saidplay area.
 29. The storage medium of claim 23 wherein said displayingsaid slides of said selected graphic elements in said slide display areaincludes displaying said slides of said selected graphic elements insaid slide display area in the order in which said selected graphicelements were selected using said graphical directional indicator. 30.The storage medium of claim 23 further comprising sequentiallytransferring each of said slides between said slide display area andsaid play area to sequentially display said slides in said play area.31. The storage medium of claim 30 wherein said sequentiallytransferring each of said slides includes transferring said particularslide back to said slide display area with said graphic object appendedto said particular slide after said particular slide has been displayedin said play area.
 32. The storage medium of claim 31 wherein saidsequentially transferring each of said slides includes transferring saidparticular slide with said graphic object appended to said particularslide from said slide display area to said play area to display saidparticular slide with said graphic object in said play area.